Janette Scott (1938-)

biography

Born December 14, 1938, in Morecambe, England, actress Janette Scott is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird. Scott began her acting career at age three in the war film Went the Day Well? (1942; with Leslie Banks) in a small role. As a child she continued making film appearances and was also on radio. By the time she was a teenager, her film roles became more prominent in No Highway in the Sky (1951; with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich) and Edge of Divorce (1953; with Valerie Hobson). When she became an adult, Scott moved on to starring roles in the thriller Now and Forever (1956), the musical comedy The Lady Is a Square (1959; with Frankie Vaughan), and the comedy The Devil's Disciple (1959; with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Laurence Olivier). In 1959, Scott married Canadian singer and TV host Jackie Rae. Early in their marriage, the couple recorded several singles and an album but without chart success. The couple divorced in 1965. She then married singer Mel Torme in 1966.

Perhaps Scott's best film is the science fiction flick The Day of the Triffids (1962; with Howard Keel and Kieron Moore) and is the film she's best remembered for today. Ordinarily a brunette, Scott dyed her hair blonde for her role in The Beauty Jungle (1964) to take on a sort of sexbomb persona for the film. Following the release of Crack in the World (1965; with Dana Andrews and Kieron Moore), she went back to being a brunette.

the films of janette scott

Now and Forever (1956)

The Good Companions (1957)

The Devil's Disciple (1959)

The Lady is a Square (1959)

School for Scoundrels (1960)

Double Bunk (1961)

The Old Dark House (1963)

Paranoiac (1963)

The Beauty Jungle (1964)

Crack in the World (1965)

janette scott today

After wrapping up production on the comedy Bikini Paradise (1967; with Kieron Moore), Janette Scott married singer and actor Mel Torme. She gave up her acting career, instead spending time raising their two children, Daisy and James. With the release of the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975; with Tim Curry and Susan Sarrandon), Scott became immortalized in the song Science Fiction/Double Feature, the opening theme song for the film. Following Scott's 1977 divorce from Torme, she married William Rademaekers. While Scott remains retired from acting, she did make an appearance in the romantic comedy How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008; with Simon Pegg and Gillian Anderson) as Simon Pegg's mother.

janette scott films available from movies unlimited

The Lady Is A Square [DVD](1959) DVD
A British teenager (Janette Scott) is thrilled when pop singer Johnny Burns (Frankie Vaughan) expresses his romantic interest in her. Too bad the teen's mother (Anna Neagle) cares nothing for modern-day music. Think some sparks will fly? Delightful musical comedy co-stars Anthony Newley, Wilfrid-Hyde White. 92 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
School For Scoundrels [DVD](1960) DVD
Deftly funny British satire starring Ian Carmichael as a milquetoast who reaches his limit when snooty rival Terry-Thomas makes off with his girl. He enrolls at the College of Lifemanship, where headmaster Alastair Sim and the faculty teach Carmichael the knack of coming out ahead in any sort of situation, and then returns to seek his revenge. With Janette Scott, Dennis Price. 94 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Double Bunk [DVD](1961) DVD
Unable to afford a house, newlyweds Jack and Penny (Ian Carmichael, Janette Scott) decide to buy a houseboat and live on the Thames. They've been had, however, and are forced to abandon their moorings quickly. Lost at sea, the couple ends up in France with many misadventures to go before finding their way back home. British comedy co-stars Sid James, Liz Fraser. 92 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English.
The Day Of The Triffids (Widescreen Version) [DVD](1962) DVD
Top-notch British sci-fi thriller about a meteor shower that has blinded nearly everyone on Earth, and the mobile, lethal, and seemingly intelligent plants that have infested London. Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey, Kieron Moore, and Janette Scott fight Triffids that spit poison and kill. 95 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English.
The Girl Swappers [DVD](1962) DVD
An American airman serving in England lives extravagantly during his free time, bedding numerous women and betting on the horses. When he gets into an unmanageable series of debts, he goes AWOL with his current girlfriend only to wind up paired with another young woman after a case of mistaken identity. Clever British comedy stars George Chakiris, Janette Scott, and Alfred Lynch. AKA: "Two and Two Make Six." 90 min. Soundtrack: English; photo gallery.
The Hammer Horror Series [DVD] DVD
"Brides of Dracula" (1960) stars David Peel as a young man who inherits the bloodsucker's mantle. With Peter Cushing. An illegitimate child is marked with "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1961). Oliver Reed stars. Herbert Lom is the mysterious, deformed figure, obsessed with a beautiful singer in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1962); "Paranoiac" (1963) centers on a young woman who sees images of her brother, who committed suicide years earlier. Reed and Janette Scott star. A young couple arrives at a Bavarian mansion where they experience the "Kiss of the Vampire" (1962). Clifford Evans, Noel Willman star. AKA: "Kiss of Evil." A teenager begins having horrific visions of her long-dead mother in "Nightmare" (1963), with David Knight, Moira Richmond. "Night Creatures" (1962) stars Cushing as a vicar who is also head of a pirate smuggling band in 1700s England. AKA: "Captain Clegg." And Cushing is the quintessential mad doctor, rescuing the monster (Kiwi Kingston) from a glacier and attempting to revive him, in "The Evil Of Frankenstein" (1964). 11 1/2 hrs. on two discs. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: French, Spanish.
The Old Dark House [DVD](1932) DVD
A classic mix of thrills, scares and laughs from "Frankenstein" director James Whale in which six travelers seek refuge from a storm in a decrepit mansion in Wales, only to be frightened by the creepy, eccentric family living there (especially hideously scarred butler Boris Karloff). With Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Ernest Thesiger, Gloria Stuart. 72 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English; audio commentary by Stuart; interview; photo gallery.
The William Castle Film Collection [DVD] DVD
Gimmick king William Castle added a "Fear Break" before the climax of "Homicidal" (1961), a gender-bending horror tale about a woman who pays a hotel bellhop to marry her, then murders the justice of the peace before plotting to gain a family inheritance. Jean Arless (aka actress Joan Marshall), Glenn Corbett star. Next, "Mr. Sardonicus" (1961) tells of a greedy 19th-century count whose face froze in a grimace after he defiled his father's grave to retrieve a winning lottery ticket. Guy Rolfe, Audrey Dalton star. Then, "13 Frightened Girls!" (1963) follows some female students at a Swiss boarding school stir up trouble for their diplomat parents while vacationing. After a Russian spy is found murdered, the girls find themselves in a heap of trouble that could have international implications. Kathy Dunn, Murray Hamilton, Joyce Taylor, Hugh Marlowe star. AKA: "The Candy Web. " Five-disc set also includes "The Tingler," "13 Ghosts" (1960), "Zotz!," "The Old Dark House" (1963), and "Strait-Jacket" (1964). 11 1/2 hrs. total. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; featurettes; theatrical trailers; alternate openings; bonus "Ghost Story" episodes; more.
Crack In The World [Blu-ray](1965)
A terminally ill scientist (Dana Andrews) pushes forward with an experiment designed to tap energy sources deep beneath the Earth's surface, but the exercise goes dangerously wrong, resulting in the possibility that the planet could split in two! Can one conscientious scientist (Kieron Moore) and his ex-girlfriend (Janette Scott) reverse the damage before the globe breaks in half? Riveting sci-fi thriller co-stars Alexander Knox, Peter Damon. 96 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English.
Crack In The World [DVD](1965) DVD
A terminally ill scientist (Dana Andrews) pushes forward with an experiment designed to tap energy sources deep beneath the Earth's surface, but the exercise goes dangerously wrong, resulting in the possibility that the planet could split in two! Can one conscientious scientist (Kieron Moore) and his ex-girlfriend (Janette Scott) reverse the damage before the globe breaks in half? Riveting sci-fi thriller co-stars Alexander Knox, Peter Damon. 96 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English.

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janette scott photos and posters available

filmography

FILM
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) with Simon Pegg, Megan Fox, and Gillian Anderson
Bikini Paradise (1967) with Kieron Moore
Crack in the World (1965) with Kieron Moore and Dana Andrews
The Beauty Jungle (1964) with Ian Hendry and Edmund Purdom
The Old Dark House (1963) with Tom Poston and Robert Morley; directed by William Castle
Siege of the Saxons (1963) with Ronald Lewis
Paranoiac (1963) with Oliver Reed, Maurice Denham, and Alexander Davion
The Day of the Triffids (1962) Kieron Moore, Howard Keel, and Nicole Maurey
Two and Two Make Six (1962) with George Chakiris and Jocelyn Lane
Double Bunk (1961) with Ian Carmichael and Dennis Price
His and Hers (1961) with Terry-Thomas, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Nicole Maurey
School for Scoundrels (1960) with Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, and Dennis Price
The Devil's Disciple (1959) with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Laurence Olivier
The Lady Is a Square (1959) with Anna Neagle, Frankie Vaughan, Anthony Newley, and Wilfrid Hyde-White
Happy Is the Bride (1958) with Ian Carmichael, Cecil Parker, and Terry-Thomas
The Good Companions (1957) with Eric Portman, Celia Johnson, and Hugh Griffith
Now and Forever (1956) with Kay Walsh
Helen of Troy (1956) with Rossana Podesta, Jacques Sernas, Cedric Hardwicke, and Brigitte Bardot
As Long as They're Happy (1955) with Jack Buchanan, Jeannie Carson, Diana Dors, and Hugh McDermott
Edge of Divorce (1953) with Valerie Hobson and Philip Friend
The Magic Box (1951) with Richard Attenborough, Robert Beatty, and Robert Donat
No Highway in the Sky (1951) with James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, and Jack Hawkins
The Galloping Major (1951) with Basil Radford and Hugh Griffith
No Place for Jennifer (1950) with Leo Genn

TELEVISION GUEST APPEARANCES
Burke's Law, episode Password to Death, originally aired October 6, 1965
BBC Sunday-Night Play, episode Twentieth Century Theatre: The Queen Came By, originally aired April 17, 1960
Armchair Theatre, episode A Man's Woman, originally aired March 23, 1958
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre, episode The Girl at the Next Table, originally aired August 10, 1957

janette scott film now showing

Watch the trailer for Janette Scott's 1963 comedy/thriller The Old Dark House